Factors contributing to disproportionality in the child welfare system: views from the legal community.

A critical shortcoming in the existing body of research addressing racial disproportionality in the child welfare system is the lack of inclusion of external stakeholders in attempts to understand and address this issue.This article reports the results ofa study designed to develop a deeper understanding of disproportionality from the views of the legal community, a critical stakeholder in child welfare. Using a qualitative approach, with focus groups as the method of data collection, data were collected to provide a greater depth of information that could be used alongside existing studies to develop an enhanced understanding of disproportionality in the child welfare system. Factors contributing to disproportionality include cultural bias, a fearful agency climate, communication barriers, ineffective service delivery, and workforce issues. Recommendations from focus group participants and implications are presented.